Next month I will turn 78 years old and as I look back on my life, it all began at 28th and P Streets in Church Hill. I have spent almost my entire life in Richmond and worked to make it a better place throughout my career in public service and my private life.
As a boy, a public school student, and a young lawyer, I walked and explored the streets of Richmond and became more involved with moving Richmond from a segregated, unequal society to one that has become more inclusive and offered better opportunities.
As a State Senator, Lt. Governor, and Governor, I worked to protect Richmond's interests as we moved to become a more modern Capital City.
I once said that people should be encouraged to dream, but also warned that "no one dreams forever." There comes a time where you must act on your dreams to produce the desired result. For nearly eight decades, I have dreamed of and worked toward realizing a better Richmond, as have many of you.
I did not plan to seek the Mayoral post four years ago until I saw that those dreams we all have to improving this City would never materialize, unless bold action and leadership came to the helm of the ship.
Richmond festered for years because a cacophony of voices and interests in the government prevented the serious, much-needed changes from occurring, even though we all knew what needed to be done. With one voice and one leader elected directly by the entire City, Richmond could - and now is - moving forward.
As Mayor, I have worked tirelessly to break the morose mind-set that had befallen our City and shatter the pattern of corruption to demonstrate that change is not only possible - it has arrived and must continue.
The gains we have seen are not tangential, but of serious consequence. We are one of the few cities in the country that has seen double-digit decreases in almost every crime category for three years running. We are on track to record our lowest homicide total in 37 years. Our crime rate is at its lowest point in nearly three decades, and our prosecution of serious crimes boasts a conviction rate close to 90%.
We have made great and much-needed progress in not only reforming our financial system but also maintaining responsible budgeting. Many practices that are common in the private sector were not adhered to in the City. We have changed that just in time to weather the current financial crisis.
Our City has seen major economic development gains and improvements, ranging from the arrival of MeadWestvaco and Philip Morris Downtown, the soon-to-open Miller & Rhoads hotel and condominiums and the adjacent CenterStage performing arts project, not to mention the already-operating National Theater.
The City has aggressively increased its code enforcement to eliminate blight and encourage economic development that brings investment, jobs, better neighborhoods and reduced crime. We created a Vacant Building Registry that identified over 3,400 empty buildings and we have worked with property owners and the courts to reduce that number to less than 1,700 and still falling.
For the first time in memory, the City engaged the citizens to help plan the future of our City. In both the Downtown Master Plan and the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, we encouraged citizens to make their voices heard and by participating in the planning sessions and sharing their ideas - because this is our City.
Though leaving office as Mayor, I will continue to engage and help improve Richmond, as our new form of government that you overwhelmingly supported has proven that change was needed. The great strides we now see are positive trends, not aberrations.
British clergyman John Henry Newman once said, "Nothing would be done at all if we waited until we could do it so well that no one could find fault with it."
I would not expect everyone to agree with my style of leadership, but Richmond needed results and we needed to show what was possible. You build a ship to sail it, not to let it sit safe yet useless in the harbor.
Real leadership always involves making hard choices over popular ones. Being popular is easy; being a leader and making the tough choices is always difficult - and often thankless - until you later see the results of those hard decisions.
Hopefully, the heavy lifting of reforming an inert City bureaucracy has been done and the incoming administration will have smoother seas to sail. I sincerely hope so.
Along with that wish, I would like to extend to all Richmonders and Visions readers a safe and happy Holiday Season and a prosperous New Year. |
